From one Earl and his dog to the resurrection of one of Scotland's great buildings: The remarkable tale of Glamis Castle

On May 29, 1660 — the very same day as Charles II’s 30th birthday and triumphant re-entry into London at the Restoration — a 17-year-old student set out from St Andrews University, with a dog as his only companion, to take control of his ruinous patrimony and inherited debts. Patrick Lyon, then 3rd Earl of Kinghorne, was likewise born on May 29 and would later see in this triple coincidence with the King’s life an echo of the restoration of his own fortune. Writing in his idiosyncratically compiled diary and notebook that survives at Glamis, known as The Book of Record, he described his arrival the following day — May 30 — at the first of his inherited seats, Castle Lyon (now HMP Castle Huntly), Carse of Gowrie, Perth & Kinross. There, in its massive tower, he ‘found nothing but bare walls